He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. – Revelation 21:4
Our time here is limited. The great tragedy of life is not knowing when you will depart from this world. Death is something we all know is true but try so hard to ignore. Recently I have seen handfuls of people pass before the time we would deem as fair. With each one I ask “why not me?” There is absolutely no bias to death. He blows in without care of timing or scenario.
To many, the term “Carpe Diem” arises, yet this lifestyle has a limited shelf life. No one can keep that intense lust for life going for very long. Soon they shrink back into the hardened distraction of longing.
Even as people of faith, we are limited by our understanding of the sobering mystery of death. We know there is hope at the ends of our mourning, yet practically speaking, we have limited understanding of its trajectory. When faced with this cruel truth, we grow silent or worse, retreat into folk religion sentiment. Perhaps the answer, if there be any resolution of such matters, is to look deeply into this present darkness to find the hope of Christ. Like many topics of faith, death needs to be discussed and examined in order to bring more clarity. If Jesus is a God of hope, then the end of our examinations will end there. However, if I am honest, death still scares me. There is an honest reverence for its finality and reach.
Lord, comfort us with life. We know death was never part of the plan, but we live in its intimidating shadow daily. Be the God of clarity on these dark matters
Matt simon blog 